UK office take-up 'rising steadily'

Office design news from Morgan Lovell

Published on 26-10-2011

An increasing number of offices in many of the UK’s major cities have been rented since the start of the year, a report has revealed.

Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, Newcastle and Liverpool enjoyed their highest quarterly take-up of the year between July and September.

Take-up levels of offices located on the outskirts of cities and towns totalled 1.94 million sq ft during the three-month period, nearly a quarter (22%) higher than the third quarter national average.

Driven by strong activity in Glasgow, out-of-town office space take-up accounted for 42% of new tenancies agreed this year.

With a growing number of Britain’s office accommodation filled as the year progressed, office design firms may have benefited from more business as companies sought to spruce up the premises in which their firms are based.

The Big Nine report by GVA went on to suggest that although office rental growth was slow but steady this year, 2012 might be slightly more challenging.

Office rent prices have remained steady as a lack of new properties has ensured that supply does not overwhelmingly outweigh demand. However, an increase in the number of available secondary properties has caused average rent prices to weaken slightly.

Copyright Press Association 2011